Race Day: Analyzing World Records, Upsets and Controversies From Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain, July 29. TODAY’S Swimming World Race Day recap for the 2013 FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, sponsored by Speedo USA, analyzes races with hosts Tiffany Elias and Jeff Commings. Swimming World correspondent Commings is on-deck at the World Championship meet, discussing events via Skype from Barcelona.

Day two of the eight day event featured the men’s 100 breaststroke, where Australia’s Christen Sprenger edged out Olympic champ Cameron Van Der Burgh. Team USA’s young NCAA superstar Kevin Cordes came in seventh.

Up next was the finals in the ladies’ 100 butterfly. After not seeing Olympic Gold medalist and world record holder Dana Vollmer perform up to expectations in prelims and semi-finals, it was not too shocking that she ended up finishing third in the event behind Sarah Sjostrom and Alicia Coutts.

Two semi-final heats were next: the men’s 100 backstroke and women’s 100 breaststroke. Matt Grevers leads the men going into the 100 back finals tomorrow with his sub 53 swim and Ruta Meilutyte is the favorite for the women.

The men’s 50 butterfly final went to Brazil’s Cesar Cielo. The win came as a surprise considering he’s still recovering from major knee surgery in late 2012. USA’s Eugene Godsoe snuck in for second place in the event.

Next up were two more semi-final heats: the women’s 100 backstroke and men’s 200 free. Team USA’s Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Pelton qualified first and third, respectively, while on the men’s side, Ryan Lochte and Conor Dwyer both qualified for the finals.

The last event of the night was the women’s 200 IM final. Here swimming fans had the chance to see the Queen of the World Cup Series Katinka Hosszu go head to head with London IM superstar Ye Shiwen. Hosszu won the title with a 2:07.9, a few tenths off Ye Shiwen’s world record mark in London. Ye finished fourth in the event with a surprisingly slow 2:10.

Day three in Barcelona will include the finals heats of the men’s 200 free and 100 back, semi-finals for 50 breaststroke and 200 fly. On the ladies side we have the finals heats for the 100 backstroke, 1500 free and 100 breaststroke and semis for the 200 free.

Make sure to go to our event landing page on SwimmingWorld.TV to find all coverage of the World Championships including results, analysis, interviews and more.